This is for sean who asked me to post...and to everyone else here!

WISHING YOU GUYS A BLESSED NEW YEAR AHEAD!!1

and don't forget your hwk :)

MALAYSIA TRULy ASIA!!!!

ok from 7-11....after camp temasek...i wanted to blog...but well too bad...had to go off to malaysia for a holiday...wonderful indeed. Oh well at least it was a holiday and we had a relaxing time doing either nothing or shopping. well here i am trying to tell you something when i did nothing. In classic ian style!! (yay to keep to my quota of including ian in every post)

1) Tuas 2nd link...best time to use in the morn...worst on Sunday evening: was surprised at the ease of getting into malaysia by car compared to travel bus...ha! we didn't have to get off the vehicle, or put our bags through the dumb scanning machine...or wait a million years for the bus to drive to the right place....or wait in the endless queues to check our passports...and on the Malaysia side as well...totally cool! Then it gets bad on Sunday evenings....i dunno if you read forums recently but it was the same sunday evening...terrible traffic...at least 1 and a half hours on a bridge...and as good citizens we queued as other impatient cars cut lanes...opened new lanes...and used emergency lanes....I'm thankful that i didn't drink too much that day...imagine waiting for the restroom...>< So we spent an eternity listening to BBC

2) Nobody really cares about the red portugese building: Quite true...when there's stuff like shopping at Makhota parade for cheap goods....to eating the super good gula melaka ice kachang...to walking to some shop to buy peanut cakes and eat durian chendol....to simply staying in the hotel suites and playing taiti.

3) Girls can shop for realllllyyyyy long: Get used to it now....having a girlfriend next time will be tough...so i watch my cousins go on a shopping bazaar...and trust me when i say they can spend hours just to buy a shirt or jeans and stuff. The secret to long hours (i learnt this): visit everything single clothes shop and check out what's in store. I'd be satisfied with a few shirts here and there....but they go for around 5? Anyway it's understandable that guys can't shop for as long....almost every shirt/t-shirt looks the same, berms, trousers, so ordinary....girls have like a ton more stuff to shop for....skirts, dresses....let's just say the clothing economy is gender biased. Most of the shopping mall is for the opposite sex.

4) Burgers go Moo!: Wow i tried a rabbit burger...the crust was great and crispy...but besides that it tasted like chicken....ahaha...not much difference

5) I can hit the archery target!!!: I said hit...not bullseye...after my Camp Temasek experience...i was slightly better than a beginner but still really lousy...after all shooting like 5 arrows in CampTemasek doesn't make you any better does it? Still i managed to hit the rim:)

6) Never judge a book by its cover: I refer specifically to the breakfast menu....i see chicken porridge, i get fish porridge, i see omelette, i get 2 sunny-side up eggs....what's a person to do? And the 1 RM durians are the 'spoilt' ones :P

Well on the overall Malaysia is still underdeveloped compared to Singapore, especially in rural areas...but then again rural always allows for some fresh air and a bit of scenery and nature....something we need a bit more of in Singapore. However, being Singaporean...it's hard to get used to the more laidback nature of Malaysians....we want everything done quickly but it's different elsewhere...time passes more slowly...and there are longer waits and everything...then again it's sometimes good to just sit back and relax. That's what holidays are for i guess :)

Next up....LDC 2...the camp that we pay to get tortured...when it shld be the other way!!!!

To be continued....Camp Temasek :)

8) Army food...all that bad?: Yes, I got a taste of army food….and it wasn’t that bad…there was actually like Western Cuisine and stuff, all was good until Day 2’s breakfast which was this carrot cake that tasted like coffee…yucks…and they give you so much of it that you can’t finish. Then again we always end up dumping the food into the large dustbins provided, what a waste…but then again it saves our tummies. Besides that it was pretty good….every meal had dessert and even a soup dish…so we kinda lived the good life…I mean we paid 100 bucks so I guess it was expected? On a sidetrack...the army bunks were pretty good as well except that you walk a metre on the ground and your feet turn black with dust

9) Suigei Buloh has a lot of trees: We walked through the whole park for 'Maplestory' (ahahahaha), some kind of thing to help us to better appreciate nature...but then again it might have done the opposite. Except for the occasional monitor lizard, buzzing mozzies and ants...there was nothing to look at. It was some amazing race game thing and my team got all the fast forwards but ended last:) go figure

10) V, 11, V, 11...the basic rules of inline skating: Yay i finally get a shot at inline skating...however it had to be done in smelly and stinky kneepads...as well as soggy helmets that had already been used by others like just a few moments ago...yes it was horribly inhygenic...:( Anyway i found myself standing on a pair of skates and moving at a measly speed slower than walking...but it was ll for fun...and those who could skate already went to play hockey

11) Hip Hop dancing is queer: Yea we try all kinds of stuff...including this....so the music booms and booms and we try with stiff bodies the slick moves....i think we were pretty bad but everyone was just as bad so noone laughed at each other...but the instructors must have had a ball of a time watching us trip over ourselves.

12) Lelong ah!!!!: Pasar Malam on the last night....we used like monopoly cash or sth to buy the stuff so within minutes all the cash was gone....i got stuck selling bookmarks..:P Lesson learnt, always save your money for the end of the pasar malam so that items get sold off at rock bottom prices and you can go around picking up the spoils...though with less variety than initially

13) Copyright infringements galore!!!: They used Maplestory, LOST, Spongebob Squarepants, War Of the worlds and Fear factor as names of activities...that's copyright infringement...well they got away with the 'original' G101 (golf...ahaha) and gunGbound....which is one letter short of infringement :P

14) Friends...sure you make a lot of them: Just want to name them in case i kinda forget them in the future...which i will :) hehe. Jerome, Jakes, Danny, Thai guy Thanan, Jeffrey, Wei Yang...and all those in the Knights....had a great time :)

continue with....(oh yes) malaysia holiday nxt time

sorry guys....recently trying to chiong chinese hwk (what's that? you may ask :P)

anyway trying my hand at making blogskins so maybe one day i can have a more personalized one...till then the end of holiday blues are getting to me....looking forward to christmas then after that nothing much to look forward to except a new school year...and that Kluang thingy...will blog more about the camps i had...but that's later on once i've finished the next essay :P

Tim's friendly reminder of hwk:
1) Essay on Science (EOS)
2) 8 Chinese Essays :(
3) Go revise your sec3 stuff b4 going back to school if not we'll all be blur like sotong

Saving Tim's Blog With this post :)

To all faithful blog-readers....you will be rewarded.......soz for the not posting, having Camp Temasek followed by a holiday in malaysia followed by LDCII is not the schedule i would have wanted if i had a choice...oh bummer, but now that i'm back, locked in the computer room, eyes half-closed....i think back on the past weeks, and no doubt...it's been eventful and memorable...a flashback to Camp Temasek in classic Ian style :)

LESSONS LEARNT FROM CAMP TEMASEK

1) Travelling up and down in BB full uniform is not the latest fashion: Yes you get stares from the public, comments about your shiny shirt sleeve (those are badges by the way), a crappy hairstyle after wearing the BB cap for hours and with a full pack on your back walking from YewTee MRT station all the way to Kranji Army Logistics Camp - it's pretty much a killer in itself, still somehow the Sec3s made it together (Fab, Wes, XL, Bong and Me) while the Sec2s hitched a ride from Caleb on the cab...boooooo!!!

2) They rig everything: I'm referring to the group choices, all sec3s had put same order of preferences for group choices....but very apperently they just rigged it randomly and we all ended up apart, at least i got in the same guild (hahaha a Mr Sim rip-off) as Shaun. And if you hadn't read the previouis post i was in the Knights guild!! Pretty sad though, we were in the saddest guild, our guild master didn't come till very late and stuff and we were pretty much alone and unmotivated...but we did get our act together eventually.

3) I cannot rockclimb for nuts: Actually i almost did....stupid rock was just tilted at some weird angle that possibly nobody in the world could climb. So i tried once and failed, and i tried again, made it a bit further, hit the dumb rock and failed. And as i watch almost every other person scale the wall like a squirrel up a tree, i realise that perhaps i haven't done enough pull-ups...or my thighs are just weak and lousy....fat....(that was NOT self deprication) Anyway i will try another day...rockclimbing is not just about strength, but strategy...aha!

4) One girl, many guys...hmmm: One girl guide in the midst of like 100 guys....must be tough on her...Wesley thinks that she's probably super despo because - girl guides don't get anything out of Camp Temasek (unlike the NE badge for BB boys) and it costs much more for ppl not in Boys' Brigade to go for the camp. Anyway, spare ya the details....i thought she was pretty lonely so i tried to like talk to her a bit and be more accomadating...though she probably got the wrong idea and daoed me for the rest of the camp :) Tim is such a loser with girls :)

5) Golf actually takes skill, and there are like over 10 different types of clubs: So yea we went golfing, tried the grip, did the sticking out butt thing for position, and tried to hit the ball, failing more than half of the time :). My best shot probably went 2 metres out.

6) Paintballs really are PAINtballs: We go to the Amoy Quee NCC campus...(familiar sean?), try game of paintball, and then i was probably too gungho, went forward too much and kena hit on my hand....well i wasn't that pain, but there was a 10cent coin red mark and 2 vampire-teeth -like marks...looks more painful than it actually is. Picture F&N flavoured balls, 'shoot me in the mouth!!!!' Anyway in my opinion it lasted too short but at least we got to wear the armor that made us look like Halo 2 characters (in the same way i stink at Halo i was crap at paintball). And on a lighter note i survived wearing shorts and playing paintball by kneeling more than half the time.

7) I don't know about SonicFest...but is the focus on God?: Sometimes we get carried away by music...third night, concert, Dream Factory played a couple of Christian Songs like 'Here I Am to Worship' and 'Tell the World'. Sure we sang and danced, and i tried to whisper a few prayers to keep on focus on God....but seriously, it's tough to keep the focus on God when music is being blasted into your ears! Nothing beats a silent QT with God at night...which we didn't get much of since there was little time anyway...well Christianity and a walk with God was never easy.

to be continued (4 days time...church camp sorry)...i promise...or this blog will die!!

Cheer Recaps

wow whee...several memorable cheers from gunGbound@temasekIV

Knights (woot!! my guild!!):
Eh- BOMB
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh.......BOOM!
Eh ah eh ah eh ah boom
Boom ah boom ah boom ah eh
Eh ah boom
Boom ah eh
Mighty knights, Mighty knights
Sut sut eh!

The Funny Dialect Cheer
What say you say I say
What say you say I say
I say Knights is number one
Don't believe very cham
What say you say I say
What say you say I say
Sua!
Mai Sua!
Ai Zai!
Ahhhhhhhh.....(in a hmm..seductive way?)


Judges (Wesley, Little Nicholas Tye and Caleb the On guy)
Order in the Court!!! *stomp* *stomp* *stomp*

Priests (poor loner Russell):
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Boo! (it was a gay cheer for booing people) I'll do it for you next time if you want :P

Missionaries (bong and Elliot):

Leader: Give me one 'na' !
Everyone: Na!
Leader: Give me two 'na's !
Everyone: Na! Na!
Leader: Give me three 'na's!
Everyone: Na! Na! Na!
Leader: Give me many many 'na's!
Everyone: Nani Nani na na...Nani Nani na na....(lol)

then there was the gu(1) niang(2) clap and the usual macho and sexy clap things....those weird things they make you do at camp..yet making you feel good doing it...though essentially it is quite stupid looking :P

next post will be on the camp itself

gunGbound@temasekIV and SGB

First off...condolences to JLow who recently lost his dad to a heart attack....though i'm not that close to Jlow...but i feel gravely sorry for what has happened to him...i pray his family will be able to take the blow and that they will remember that one day they will see his dad again in heaven :)

Well i'm finally back from gunGbound@temasekIV camp and in a word - very tired....so many things to blog about and so little time...I think I will flash back to the Sharity Gift Box of 29th and 30th of December, then follow on to a recap of the camp...nice and organized...yes :P

SGB: 29th November
As usual there was the introductory video that made Mr Alex Wong 'want to cry', but make us want to fall alsleep coz we've watched it tons of times...lol just joking...Anyway, there was the new video on how to address the public...and we secretly gawked at the boy in the video who was stiff....mechanic(eyes wide open)...and whose lines were seriously scripted. ('Sorry Madam, i cannot provide an answer to your query, please call the sharity hotline at 1800- SHARITY, or at 1800 7427489")

Anyway Ding and Xunliang were there...and that day we arrived at 730 though the thing started at 830...big waste of time...but it was fun catching up with all the Sec2s and Sec3s....

All my SGB years have been spent slogging in the warehouse and making delivery visits...so this year's posting to a Wish Tree was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately...Xunliang was left behind....while Ding and I were posted to Allston Hotel (think air-con). Arriving there, the hosts were seriously well prepared and ready to receive us and teach us how to perform duties....surprised at their on-ness...:P

At the wish tree, we get people to take wishes of the elderly/children and fulfill them, eg. childern wanting a watch...and a kind person takes the wish, buys the watch and returns it to the wish tree for delivery....a personal touch to Sharity Gift Box. Most of the people who came were the hotel staff...and i think we must have stayed there for like...hmmmm 6 hours??? Entertainment came in the form of occasional blackjack (and the hotel people always saw us slacking when they came...pai seh), chatting with hotel staff...or simply greeting everyone who came into the hotel with a smile....which landed me with a stiff face at the end :)

Then there was the scottish guy who was from BB, who treated us as tourist attractions and took photos of us with the christmas trees. There was the card trick guy who did tricks on me...to the annoyance of his wife :)....and the guy who went in and out of the hotel at least 8 times...well it was interesting. Most were foreigners so we didn't get a huge response. But at least we got to eat in the staff cafe :)


SGB: 30 Nov 2005
After the previous day..hoped to be posted to somewhere nearer home....maybe Jurong Point or something.....and i had wanted to go with sam chan so we tried to rig the sign in chart to put our names together...unfortunately...everything went wrong.

Posted with my senior who i didn't know very well....and posted at (of all places) Marine Parade!!! i found at that 196 takes horribly long to come (are you reading this SBS?). NTUC at marine parade central...unwillingly...we both dragged out the big box...and put it outside NTUC, sat at the benches and braced ourselves for a long long long 9 hours. Fortunately, there was company in the form of both my partner Justin and the public....by the end of the day....justin and I were established friends ...they say that tough experiences are bonding experiences...and 9 hours outside an NTUC...with only a bench to rest on...is pretty bad.

We took half hour shifts...walking around..collecting money...advertising SGB....for 9 hours!!!!!!!! that simplifies my blog post alot...just remember...9 hours!!!!! it was bad! Anyway...at least my dad drove me home at around 9 pm....

The public were mostly open to the SGB...and we must have collected at least 20 dollars worth of ten cent coins...everyone used us as a way to dump their spare change from NTUC...the box was located next to an ATM...and while people were shifting through their big notes..they took out coins and dumped them in. In the end...it was the older generation and the parents who responded most generously...while the youth and younger folks were more 'stingy'.

haha we splurged our remaining 20 dollar allowance on sushi!

well it was a meaningful experience....seeing how the public responded to SGB...and realising that many are unaware of it...and that publicity is indeed important...unfortunately couldn't participate in the delivery aspect...so missed out on the most meaningful part...hopefully next year :) kk i'll post abt CAmp temasek in another post....or this will be toooooo long :)